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It’ll be all right on the night: DCU Library in the Digital Humanities

From the 1–3 September 2015, DCU Library took a leap into the dark and hosted Digital Research in the
Humanities and Arts 2015, a prestigious international conference for those engaged with the digitisation of
cultural activity, resources and heritage. Having been awarded the conference following a tough competitive
process, the committee, consisting of three librarians, set about planning an event to combine weighty academic
presentations on a dizzying array of topics, cutting edge digital art installations, complex multi-media keynote
addresses, and a social programme designed to keep a motley bunch of artists, academics and digital pioneers
happy and engaged.
Leaving their comfort zone well behind, they were required to act as convenors, curators, mediators, reviewers,
technicians and stage hands. They liaised extensively with colleagues across DCU to beg, borrow and steal
anything from iMacs and PC monitors to projectors and HDMI cables. They could often be found hammering nails,
hanging drapes, dragging tables and eating on the run. There was never a dull moment! In the end, DRHA 2015
was a huge hit. They succeeded in putting DCU on the digital humanities map and shattered a few preconceptions
about the influence librarians can have on the academic and cultural landscape.

8.
Competitive application process to recruit a DCU multimedia student to help us
build our website.
Requirements: Many delegates very design savvy so had to be high spec.
And had to house legacy content.
http://www.drha2015.ie
How did we attract a diverse international audience?

10.
The Unknowns
Predicting delegate numbers to inform
conference fee structure was complex
and challenging
Artists can find it difficult to secure
funding (some assumed we would fund)
Substantial outlays required for tech
equipment + support
Massive variation in attendance for
previous years
Were we promoting to the right people?

23.
Ways of Working
• Worked unusual hours to avoid losing ‘flow’
• Challenging to combine everyday structured
tasks with creative process
Building Skills
• Fun to collaborate on something a bit different
• Significant opportunity for team building
Gaining Perspective
• Provided perspective for dealing with other
‘outside the box’ tasks
Reflections